With more than 3 million people enrolled in the new health insurance exchanges, many previously uninsured people are making doctor appointments for the first time. New York-based ZocDoc, which helps patients make appointments with a network of physicians in states including Florida, has been on the front lines of this, as 300 exchange plans are in its network.

“We saw it in mid-December, starting to gear up for the Jan. 1 go-live date,” ZocDoc spokeswoman Jessica Aptman said. “The majority of appointments have been in preventative care. Specialties like primary care, dermatology and OB/GYN have been in high demand.”

Most of these patients didn’t have insurance before, so they were putting off skin screenings and physicals, she added. There were relatively few people in the exchanges who immediately scheduled major procedures, Aptman said.

BANK M&A FORECAST

Expert says 69 FlA. banks should be sold

Sixty-nine Florida banks should seriously consider being sold, according to a study by New York-based Invictus Consulting Group.

Invictus Chairman and CEO Kamal Mustafa, the former head of global M&A at Citibank, said banks with low capital levels, a pool of assets that are risky or have low returns, and show poor profitability are candidates to be sold. Few banks are likely to fail immediately, but many will suffer a slow bleed as interest rates rise, he said.

The Florida banks that survived the recession despite large real estate losses mostly did so by deleveraging their portfolios and shrinking, Mustafa said. Banks with many fixed-rate loans at 3 to 5 percent could get their margins squeezed when interest rates rise, and they may not have enough capital to restock their portfolios with higher-rate loans.

“At some point, this pendulum will swing,” Mustafa said. “The weak banks will get less attractive, so our position is sell now.”

Invictus suggests that 53 Florida banks should look to buy. Mustafa said they have high capital levels but subpar earnings, and a buy is a faster fix that than organic growth.

FEATURED FORECLOSURE

UCF I Trust, an affiliate of Boston-based UC Credit Services, filed a foreclosure lawsuit against SeaSpray Resort and managing members Prabhjot Benisasia and Rick Benisasia. It targets the 50-room SeaSpray Inn at 123 Ocean Ave. in Palm Beach Shores. The complaint alleges that the borrower missed the Oct. 1, 2013, payment after taking out the $4.8 million mortgage in late August.